Southern Wine & Spirits is expanding its operations in the East Bay with a big lease in Union City.

The distributor of alcoholic beverages signed a lease for 192,000 square feet of warehouse space in Union City, said agents with Cornish & Carey Commercial, a realty brokerage.

“We are encouraged to hear that Southern Wine is expanding here,” said Joan Malloy, Union City’s director of economic and community development. “They are one of our city’s major employers.”

The distributor of wines and spirits employs 725 people in Union City, according to the city’s website.

With its new lease, Southern Wine gains control of a big building at 33300 Dowe Ave. The company also has other operations in the vicinity at Atlantic Street and Dowe Avenue, Cornish & Carey brokers said.

Privately held Southern Wine, which is based in Miami, generates $7 billion in yearly revenue, according to an August estimate supplied by Retail Solutions, an online site that tracks the retail sector. Southern Wine executives did not respond to multiple phone calls inquiring about the deal, the company’s expansion and its hiring plans in Union City.

“This expansion for Southern Wine is good news for the market,” said Steve Kapp, a senior vice president with Cornish & Carey.

The company needs more space because business is picking up. That’s a bright counterpoint to a dreary economy.

“They have higher volumes of sales and distribution than they had a couple of years ago,” Kapp said.

Southern Wine is expected to be in the building before mid-April.

“This location gives Southern Wine complete access to the Bay Area, to Safeway and other retailers,” said Todd Graves, a sales associate with Cornish & Carey.

Southern Wine also will be able to take advantage of nearby transportation hubs with the Union City site.

“They are close to the Port of Oakland, so they can get deliveries in and out,” Graves said. “They can ship to the Central Valley very easily.”

The company is poised to expand further.

Southern Wine has also received approval from city officials to construct a brand-new facility for distribution and warehouse operations, Malloy said.

“It would be a very large facility,” she said. “It would be very high-tech.”

The new complex could add another 450,000 to 480,000 square feet of building space for Southern Wine’s operations.

“It’s good news that the company is making moves that signal a more permanent presence for them,” Malloy said.